Life At Capitol Academy
by CelticGames4
Summary: Co-authored by myself and Wetstar. A story about life at a high school filled with Hunger Games characters and the best OCs from the our stories. Cinna's the most popular guy in school, and Venia is chasing him. Octavia feels insecure about her weight and very lonely, while Flavius isn't looking for someone: until he meets someone special... In the best high school in the world!


_It's the autumn season and the start to another great school year at Capitol Academy. _

_We start our story in a little community in the United States of America, where three high schools reside: Panem High, your typical public school with a good football record and a spectacular musical program, Liberty High, the poorest and smallest of the three, located by the crime-racked neighborhood of the community. But neither of those are quite as great, or quite as big, or quite as big as Capitol Academy, a school that comes with a scholarship fee but has an exquisite program for every subject. Capitol Academy is a school full of rich, snobby teenagers, with the exception of a group of the school's most popular of all: the glee club. In a school that stresses musical importance, the glee club, consisting of select students after much auditioning from 7__th__ to 12__th__ grade, consists of a group of kids with exceptional stage presence and singing voices. _

_Welcome, one and all, to Capitol Academy. _

**Chapter 1: Capitol Academy**

We start our day at a group of lockers on the east side of the school, where Sima Patterson, a senior that has been attending Capitol Academy since 8th grade, finishes pulling her dark hair into her ponytail and closes her locker door. The first class she has is math, which she dreads due to her dyscalculia, a learning disabiliity that makes numbers and math hard for her.

Leaning against a wall close to her locker is Sebastion Clarke, also a senior that has been at Capitol Academy since 7th grade. The whole school is aware that he has a crush on the green-eyed girl since the end of their junior years, and has been flirting relentlessly, to much failure, however.

Sebastion, who is tall with sea-green eyes and brown hair, watches as Sima closes her locker and gives it a slight tug to ensure that it's locked. "Hey there," he says with an attempt at a sexy smile.

Sima raises an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to be attractive?"

"Don't you deny it!" He says with a smile.

"It looks like you just smelled something bad and are trying to still smile."

Sebastion sighs, "You're a toughie. But mark my words when I say you will be mine."

Sima tries not to laugh at the ridiculousness of this statement. "Yours? I don't belong to anyone but myself!"

Sebastion tries again at a sexy smile, "You say that now."

She sighs. "Give up on the "sexy" smile. You're much hotter without it."

Upon hearing the girl of his dream refer to him as even being hot at all, Sebastion immediately cuts it out, "I am!?"

Sima shrugs. "Yeah, I guess."

Sebastion grins. Just as she finishes saying _guess, _Sebastion's long-time best friend and fellow senior Rudi Benkhart walks over and rolls her eyes. Rudi is from the crime-wracked area close to Liberty, but her parents are funding for her to go to Capitol Academy to keep her away from the bad influences close to the Liberty Area. The copper-haired girl smirks, knowing already that Sebastion is failing once again to make advances on Sima. The tips of Rudi's hair are reddish-purple-pink and she has the trademark black beanie on top of her head. Rudi's family is rich, but the green-eyed girl prefers not to dress or act like it.

"Hey Rudi," Sima says with a hint at a smile.

"Sebster terrorizing you again?" Rudi asks casually. She's used to this by now.

"Just attempting to smile _sexily,_" Sima says, adding finger quotations on sexily.

Rudi bursts out laughing. Sebastion blushes, not liking to be made fun of. Sima grins and Rudi grins back before both girls turn their attention back to the blushing boy.

After a pause, Sima says, "Well, I have to get to math. See you two later?"

"Of course!" Sebastion says lovingly.

"Sure," Rudi says, rolling her eyes at him.

Suddenly, they all see a little girl with flowing blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail running toward them. It turns out to be Ariadne Mallinsky, a seventh grader flowing blonde hair and green eyes like the rest of them. She's had a puppy-crush on Sebastion since she first saw him at auditions, and has tagged him with the petname _Sebby._

"SEBBY!" Ariadne yells as she runs that way.

Sima steps out of Ariadne's way as she plows through, trying not to laugh at the younger girl's enthusiasm.

"SEBBY!" she squeals happily, hugging the senior. Sebastion is embarrassed by this and also afraid that it may give Sima the wrong idea.

"Ariadne," he groans, "Really?"

The seventh-grader just giggles in response.

Sima just laughs and winks at Sebastion. "See you later. Sebby."

Sebastion groans, humiliated once again in front of his crush.

Ariadne, however, looks genuinely offended, "Why is she making eyes at you?! Are you not clearly branded my SEBBY!?"

Sebastion facepalms. Rudi bursts out laughing.

Sima just giggles and continues on to class. Ariadne grins and gives Sebastion a wave, "See you later Sebby!" then she skips off to her class, and Sebastion and Rudi separate, as well.

On the other side of the school, a senior named Jack Hourner-McNally waits for his best friend by his locker. Jack and his twin sister Emma were orphaned when both of their parents died in a car accident and the twins were later adopted by a rich couple that sent them off to Capitol Academy. After so many years, their parents have started to ignore Jack and Emma more than either of them would like.

Today, Jack is waiting for his best friend Cor Simon, also a senior. Jack's green eyes light up when he sees the blonde boy walking towards him.

"Cor! Hi!"

Cor walks over to his locker. "Hey Jack!"

He starts putting in the combination as Jack teases, "Any new love interests lately?" Both of them are single and it's become a bit of a joke between the two.

Cor sighs sadly and shakes his head. "Another dead end. He was straight."

Jack cringes. "Sorry, bud." He only partially knows what this is like, considering that the tall, slender ginger is bisexual as compared to his blonde friend, who is gay.

"It's fine," Cor says with a shrug. "I should've seen it coming, really."

Jack frowns. "Plenty of fish in our stream, I suppose."

Just as he says this, a tall, strong, red-headed boy walks past them, trying not to stare at Jack. His name is Tarrick Tailor and he only started attending Capitol Academy last year as a junior. Tarrick lives on his own, on the streets, but was able to gain both a musical and a sports scholarship for his ability to play numerous instruments and his precision on the rifle team. Tarrick hopes to sneak past the best friends without getting noticed, pulling his trademark white cowboy hat over his dark red hair and face as he walks past.

It doesn't work. Cor spots him.

Cor nods at him. "Hey Tarrick."

Tarrick blushes upon being noticed.

Jack doesn't know him that well but he smiles at the red-haired boy. "Hey there!"

"H-hi," Tarrick stammers out to Jack.

"How's your day going?" Cor asks, knowing the boy from Chemistry the year before.

"Hasn't really started yet, has it?" the ginger asks with a typical Tarrick smile, trying to hide his blush.

"Hey, are you okay? You look pretty flushed." Cor gently puts the back of his hand against Tarrick's forehead. This causes him to blush even more, especially the look of concern that spreads across Jack's face.

"Y-yeah," Tarrick finally stammers, "F-fine."

"You're stammering," Cor points out.

Jack looks even more concerned. His genuine compassion is one thing that Tarrick admires about him. When the thought crosses his mind, Tarrick's blush deepens.

"Do you want to see the nurse?" Cor asks. "Maybe you have a fever?"

"No," Tarrick says, "I'm seriously Ok."

"Okay..." the friends say at the same time.

"I have to get to first period!" Jack says, smiling again. "And, uh, it was nice talking to you, Tarrick." He gives the two boys a nod and runs off to his class. Tarrick blushes harder.

Cor grins. "Tarrick Tailor, I think you have a crush."

Tarrick blushes hard and stammers, "Wh-what!? I-I d-dunno... What you're t-talking about..."

"I think you do!" Cor grins impishly.

"O-on Wh-who!?" Then he adds quickly, "Do you think!?"

"On my best friend."

Tarrick desperately shakes his head, "I've n-never r-really t-talked to h-him... I d-don't have any c-c-" he struggles on his words.

"You definitely do," Cor says, nodding.

Tarrick sighs, "N-no I don't. But if I do... IF... Then it's only a small one." Cor grins.

The ginger shoves Cor playfully, but mostly sounds embarrassed, "Shut up." Cor laughs in response.

Tarrick blushes, determined not to stutter, "It's still not a cr-crush." Then he sighs, "Damn." Cor's grinning like an idiot, amused by the ginger boy's attempts to cover up his crush.

He can't stop his blushing, "It's nothing!"

"Of course it isn't." The sarcasm in the blond boy's voice is obvious.

Tarrick scowls. "Why won't you believe me!?"

"Because it's not the truth," he says simply.

Tarrick blushes harder but still tries to deny it, "I mean, uh, h-he's j-just.."

"Cute?"

He does believe this to be true. "Uh, I was gonna s-say... A-a f-friend."

Cor just looks amused and doesn't respond. Tarrick ducks his head, blushing.

The blonde senior grins. "Why don't you ask him out?"

"No way!" Tarrick says quickly.

"Why not?" Cor asks, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"H-he's j-just.. S-so...Popular..." It's a true statement. Jack is friends with many of the different groups of kids in the school. His personality is naturally optimistic and very attractive to most, especially Tarrick.

"So?" Cor quizzes.

"I live on the streets," Tarrick reminds him, "I'm only here on a music and athletics scholarship."

"So?" Cor asks again. "Jack doesn't pay attention to that. Well, he does but not in a negative way."

Tarrick blushes. "I-I'm just a coward."

The response comes immediately, "No you're not."

"Yeah I am. I stutter like an idiot every time I-I even think about him..."

"So?" he asks again.

"S-So... I c-can't talk to him!"

"'Course you can!" Tarrick shakes his head and Cor nods.

"I could argue about this all day," the ginger says, "But I have to get to first period sometime today."

"Whatever you say," Cor shrugs and walks off to his first class. Tarrick does the same.

* * *

Before all this happens, in an apartment by the school, Mario Eckles and his boyfriend Platinum Krietzer are both awakened by the loud blaring of an alarm clock.

Mario's eyes flutter open and the Italian groans, "Make it stop."

Platinum groans right back, "Hrrrnnggg…" He flails his arms to symbolize that he can't reach it. The rough translation of the grunt is, _I can't reach the clock with your arm around my waist. _

The two men go through this scenario every morning, but today is different because it's their first days of student teaching. Mario reluctantly removes his arm from where it was secured tightly around Platinum's waist, and he reaches over and turns it off.

Mario, a man with dark hair and brown eyes, sits up in bed with a tired groan. Platinum, who has black hair with orange bangs and red tips and blue-gray eyes, buries his face in the pillow as his boyfriend switches on the lights. Both of them are seniors in college majoring in music education. Mario is student-teaching at Capitol Academy, and Platinum is student-teaching at Panem.

Platinum keeps his face buried until he feels a figure climb on top of him and whisper close to his ear, "Come on, gorgeous… Time to get out of bed…" Platinum likes the familiar feeling of Mario's forehead resting against his. "Or else I'll make you wake up…" Platinum still doesn't want to open his eyes, but they open up instinctively when Mario's lips caress his. Platinum smiles into the kiss, happily returning it and sleepily grunting, "Mmmm…"

Mario smiles and returns the happy noise, "Mmm," as the kiss goes on, and eventually but reluctantly pulls back. He sounds a lot more awake when he speaks, "I love this as much as you do, but we do have to get ready or else we'll be late." He gives the blue-gray-eyed boy one last kiss on the lips for good measure before climbing off him to get ready. Platinum flops out of bed, words slurred together from sleepiness, "Butyouowemewhenwegethome…"

Mario looks up from where he was changing, holding the slacks he is going to wear in his hands. A smile spreads across his face, "I like those words."

Platinum stalks over to his closet and swats Mario's abdomen as he walks, "Now put some clothes on, goddammit. You're too sexy without them."

The Italian laughs and changes, running to the bathroom before his boyfriend can get there. They both know that Platinum takes forever in the bathroom. While Mario brushes his teeth and gels his hair, Platinum runs a brush through his. Soon, Mario and Platinum switch places, the colorfully-banged boy taking his time to brush his teeth and wash his face. Soon, the time to leave approaches quickly, and Platinum is still in the bathroom.

When Mario looks in, Platinum stands, hunched over the mirror, pawing at his hair.

Mario watches him, amused. "What exactly are you trying to achieve?"

Platinum runs a hand through his hair. "I'm going to Panem... You do not understand how much they hate Capitol Academy and vice versa..."

Mario sighs. "Plat, don't stress out about it. It'll all be okay."

Platinum nods, "I know. Maybe I just like playing with my hair," he teases.

"So do I," Mario teases back. They grin at each other.

Platinum laughs and smiles at his boyfriend. "You should be used to this by now!"

Mario smiles, tilting his head slightly to the side. "I don't think I'll ever get used to you, Plat."

Platinum laughs, finally looking away from the mirror and deciding that his hair looks fine. "Need any last-minute advice about Capitol Academy?"

"Yes please." Though he would never admit it, Mario was near terrified about going to student teach at the high school.

"They're very serious about their glee club there," Platinum says, "And the students love snacks." He smiles, pulling his letterman jacket from the closet. "They have a full pit that shows up their glee club period, and they sing about everything."

Mario nods, chewing on his lip, a habit he has whenever he's nervous. Platinum notices this and tries to get his boyfriend's mind off of the nerves.

"Do you want to take this?" Platinum asks, holding up the letterman jacket. "It's comfy." He is an alumni of Capitol Academy, but didn't want to go back there because of the bad memories it brings.

Mario tilts his head to the side again. "What is it?"

Platinum smiles sheepishly, "My old letterman jacket."

Mario smiles slightly. "You still have it?"

Platinum nods, "Sure do. My parents sent it when I told them we'd be going back there. They hold on to a lot of weird stuff like that."

Mario makes a face, "Your parents are very, uh, odd, aren't they?"

"Eccentric, odd, weird, it's all accurate," Platinum says. His parents have already showed less-than-approval on their son's bisexuality and especially his ex-prostitute boyfriend.

"Understatement," Mario says with a flick under Platinum's chin. He smiles.

"The jacket still fits me, too."

Mario laughs. "That's actually kind of amazing!"

Platinum grins at hearing his laugh. "My parents got me an extra-large one, even though it's obnoxiously expensive, because they thought I would really want to wear it at college because I should be proud of my rich-people's school."

Mario hugs Platinum's waist and puts his chin on his shoulder, "I'm sorry."

Platinum smiles, "It's alright."

They stand in silence, both knowing that the time to separate will be soon.

"Well Capitol Academy is going to love you," Platinum says, "I'm sure of it."

"Thanks. And Panem'll love you."

"I hope." Platinum picks up his portfolio of supplies and looks back in the mirror.

Mario kisses his cheek. "You look amazing as always and are going to be wonderful. Stop worrying."

Platinum sighs, "I'm not worried."

"Nervous then."

Platinum shrugs. He can't deny it.

"You'll do great."

He smiles, "Thanks. You will, too."

Mario gives his hand a quick squeeze. "Ready?"

Platinum grins, a combination of anticipation and nerves. "Yeah!"

The two walk out of the building together, hand-in-hand. Then, they separate with one last goodbye kiss, and Mario makes his way to Capitol Academy. Without the smiling, shorter, stormy-eyed boy at his side, his nerves fly back in his chest. He takes a deep breath before finally walking in the huge school.

* * *

Seneca Crane, the teacher of Capitol Academy's glee club, sits at his desk, sifting through sheet music. Mario bites his lip before knocking on the music room's door.

"It's open," Seneca says, running his finger across the melody for "Superman."

Mario slips into the room soundlessly, a skill he learned when he was young to keep out of trouble. Or at least as much trouble as he could. By now he makes absolutely no noise when he moves, unless he wants to.

Mr. Crane hums some of the notes to himself. Then he looks at the list of kids in the glee club, until Mario awkwardly clears his throat.

Seneca looks up, "Ah, yes, hello there. You must be the new student teacher," to which the Italian man nods.

Seneca introduces himself, "I'm Seneca Crane, the music coordinator and glee club teacher here at Capitol Academy."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Mario Eckles."

"Take a seat," Mr. Crane says, reading back over his sheet music. Mario awkwardly does as he says.

Mr. Crane had never put a lot of work towards his glee club. As soon as a leader was voted on, his work would be done. "Where're you from, kid?" He asks Mario.

"Um, a town over. But I'm living here now. Not in the school, in the town, I mean." Mario mentally facepalms. _I should just shut up now_, he thinks.

Mr. Crane smiles. "Welcome to Capitol Academy."

"Thanks."

Seneca looks at the sheet music. "How many instruments are you good at?" He asks thoughtfully.

"Not very many," Mario admits. "We didn't have much of a music program at my high school, so I just barely passed most of my instrument tests…"

Seneca smiles, "Then you'll learn a lot from these kids." He looks up from his sheet music. "Today we're competing to see which senior will take over as the leader of glee club.

Mario nods. "Right."

He hands Mario a pile of sheet music. "I'm looking for a good song now."

Mario nods and together, the two go through sheet music.

The first day, Mario stays quiet and listens when Seneca teaches, until seventh period.

Ariadne is the first to skip into the glee club room. Her best friend, a freshman named Marley, skips in soon after. Marley has flowing black hair that goes down to her waist, with one green eye and one gray. Marley is a big anime and video game enthusiast and wears a deep red, fuzzy hat with raccoon ears on it.

The next to enter is Dana Kild, a tall senior with dark hair. She keeps an eye out for her little sister, Paige. Paige is a junior with curly golden hair and a very bitchy nature. Even so, she has a good amount of stage presence and a hell of a voice, so she sings in glee club and the others try to ignore her snarky comments.

Sebastion walks to glee club with his and Rudi's other best friend, a junior named Finn Fletcher. With dark hair, green eyes, and a great smile, Finn has a naturally happy disposition and specializes in terrible jokes. The only quirk about him is that, because of a spine injury he suffered as a child, Finn is permanently paralyzed from the waist down.

Dana glances over at Finn and smiles slightly, ducking her head before anyone could see. For the past couple of months, the boy had been causing her some confusing emotions that she was still trying to make sense of.

"FINN!" Marley squeals happily upon seeing him wheel in the room and huggs her friend, "I can't wait for rehearsal!"

Finn laughs, "Me neither!" Marley giggles. She thinks he's absolutely adorable and hilarious and… Just… Wonderful.

Jack and his twin sister Emma, a girl with long brown hair and royal blue eyes, walk together, waiting up for Cor as well, who soon falls into step with the twins.

"Hi Cor," Jack says happily.

"Hey," Emma says with a slight smile. She's still slightly homophobic because, when she and Jack were children, a gay couple adopted them. They molested Jack, and abused Emma. The ginger boy's let it go, but his sister still hasn't.

"You ready for glee club!?" Jack asks excitedly. Cor nods.

Finn sits in the front by default. Dana takes a seat in the corner, away from the others. Cor walks into the room, taking a seat beside her. "Tell your sister to stop pestering me," he pleads. Paige has a huge crush on him, not hiding it a bit, even though he's told her numerous times that he's not into girls.

"Just keep telling her you're gay, she'll eventually get the hint and leave you alone."

Sebastion walks in the room and Tarrick follows, smiling at the guitar that's waiting for him.

Mario awkwardly sits at the side, watching the kids as the bell rings.

"Welcome!" Mr. Crane says enthusiastically, "Welcome to your seventh period music class, welcome to glee club!"

"I'm SO EXCITED, Mr. Crane!" Marley squeals with a grin.

"Yes, we alllllll know how EXCITED you are Pipsqueak," the curly haired blonde girl named Paige snarks as she strolls into the classroom and flops down in one of the chairs in the back row. Dana rolls her eyes.

Marley sighs, but is determined not to let Paige Kild ruin her day.

"SEBBY IS GONNA SING TODAY!" Ariadne gushes, "Aren't you, Sebby?"

Sebastion nods, "But don't call me Sebby."

"Aww, does Sebby not like that?" Paige pipes up again, smirking. Sebastion scowls.

Jack grins and jokes, "Jack is going to sing today, too!"

Tarrick pulls his hat over his face to hide his blush.

"Jack's also not smart enough to talk in first person!" Paige sneers.

Jack rolls his eyes, "It was a joke. Poking fun at the fact that I have no crushing children to say it for me."

"I am not a child!" Ariadne protests, "I'm in seventh grade!"

"You're a child, and a very annoying one at that," Paige says.

Marley frowns. "Don't listen to her," she whispers.

Emma looks at Mario and raises an eyebrow, expecting him to do something to stop the fighting.

Mario, meanwhile, is watching Seneca, wondering why he isn't doing anything. All of the kids are used to their teacher not interjecting. He's never interjected in the fighting because he believes it's a good way to be creative.

"So, uh, who's the Italian?" Emma finally asks, to shift the attention away from Paige.

The blonde girl sits back, pleased with herself for getting away with it again. The tips of Mario's ears go red from the sudden attention.

Finn scowls. He absolutely can't stand Paige Kild.

Seneca says flatly, "This is Mr. Eckles. He's your student teacher."

"Just call me Mario," he mumbles awkwardly.

"Isn't that a little, uh, untraditional?" Marley asks.

"What's wrong with untraditional?" the dark-haired man asks.

Marley giggles, "Nothing!"

"So I guess we should all introduce ourselves!" Jack says.

"Uh, sure, that's probably smart," Mario mumbles.

"SEBBY FIRST!" Ariadne beams.

Sebastion blushes and ducks his head, while their new student teacher looks over at him, amused.

"I take it you're Sebby?"

"It's, uh, Sebastion," the senior says, "Sebastion Clarke."

"MY SEBBY!" Ariadne says with a grin.

Mario raises an eyebrow. "Okay then..."

Sebastion adds, "I'm a senior," to which Ariadne gushes.

"What about the rest of you?"

The blonde girl grins, "I'm Ariadne Mallinksy! I'm a seventh grader!"

Marley pipes up, pulling the hat with raccoon ears down on her head, "I'm Marley! I'm a freshman!"

"And a freak!" Paige pipes up. Mario scowls at the blonde girl. Marley sighs, frowning. She's often been classified as a nerd, and even a freak because one of her eye-coloration.

Finn pats her back and whispers, "Ignore her." Finn hates Paige but is still not sure what to think about her sister.

"You're not much better Cripple!" Paige sneers.

"Hey! Snarky! Watch it!" Mario snaps. The girl scowls and crosses her arms. Finn frowns, staring at the floor. He often goes back and forth on her. Sometimes, like now, he despises her. Other times, well, he thinks she might be savable. And she is pretty, he'll hand her that one. But overall, Finn's not sure what to think about the girl. Even if he did like her, she'd never like him back because she's chasing Cor.

He turns around to look at her and instead his eye is caught by Dana. He turns back around, feeling like she's already judging him for even thinking of Paige like that.

Dana turns red and ducks her head. Paige rolls her eyes and says in a singsong voice "Dad is going to kill you!"

"Why?" Jack asks, concerned.

"None of your business!" both girls interject.

"Alright, alright," he says.

"Anyways, I'm Emma," his sister introduces, "This is my twin, Jack. Both seniors."

"I'm Dana, a senior. And Snarky is Paige, my little junior sister," the brunette girl says.

"I'm Finn Fletcher," the junior says, sea-green eyes gleaming. "Junior," he adds. "And if this glee club is ever stranded on an island, I have lights in my wheels to we can look for food in caves." He says it seriously but has a layer of joking within the statement.

Everyone laughs at this, until Paige adds, "Or we could just eat your crippled ass!"

"That's cannabalism!" At the sound of Cor's voice, as irritated as it is, Paige turns into a puddle of gooey adoration.

"Wow, you're so smart, Cor," she gushes, blinking big blue eyes at him. The senior just rolls his eyes. The whole room releases a collective, annoyed sigh.

"Back off, Kild, he's not interested," Jack growls.

"Why, because you've got your dick up his ass?"

Jack scowls but isn't very good with this comeback thing. He doesn't want to look like an idiot.

Tarrick scowls from the other side of the room.

Mario awkwardly clears his throat. "Moving on?"

"I'm, uh, Tarrick Tailor," he quietly introduces, "My step-brother was considering coming, too..."

"Aw, I love Grayson!" Ariadne says with a grin, "I hope he comes!"

Tarrick looks awkward.

Mario whispers the names quietly to himself as each kid introduces themselves.

"As Paige said earlier, I'm Cor," the tall boy smiles at some of the younger members, hoping his somewhat friendship with the blonde girl hasn't scared them off him.

Marley's never seen Cor in her life. She turns around and waves shyly, to which Cor gives a kind smile.

"Is that everyone?" Mario asks.

Suddenly, the brown-haired, lime-green-eyed boy runs into the room. "Am I late!?" Grayson, Tarrick's step-brother and freshman exclaims.

"Not much," Mario says, waving the boy in. "We were just introducing ourselves. Who are you?"

"I'm Grayson Bates." He pauses before he adds in the, "Tailor."

He and Tarrick exchange an awkward glance.

Mario glances between the two boys. "Siblings?"

"No-no," Tarrick stammers, "Not any more. I was disowned at 12 and left to live on the streets." He says it in a tone that doesn't crave for empathy. "Because I'm gay." Jack's eyes practically radiate sympathy, while Emma shifts uncomfortably. Mario frowns, but doesn't say anything. Tarrick glances around, half-expecting Paige to make a snarky comment. Grayson's eyes dart around nervously. Paige is too busy making googly eyes at Cor to notice anything the ginger boy has to say, which is a relief to Tarrick.

Mario glances at Seneca to find out what to do next.

Seneca smiles, "So, today's that time when we get to elect the leader of glee club. Who's running?"

"I AM!" Sebastion says. Ariadne cheers, "YEAH SEBBY!"

"I am too!" Jack says with a grin. Tarrick grins broadly.

"Is that all?" Mr. Crane asks.

Emma gushes, "Ooo! If Jack wins this year, it will have been my boyfriend, then my brother!"

Marley smiles. Lucas, who graduated last year, and Emma are Marley's current OTP.

Cor grins at Emma. "It will be Jack!"

Jack blushes slightly and smiles, "Thanks."

"Anyone else?" Mr. Crane asks. The students shake their heads.

"Then let the battle begin! And good luck sight-reading," he says with a smile, handing Sebastion and Jack pieces of paper.

Both boys stare at their papers, reading the notes and humming. Tarrick stares at Jack but snaps back into it, turning bright red and pulling his hat over his eyes. Cor glances at Tarrick in amusement. Tarrick makes eye-contact with Cor and looks doomed, but the blonde boy just grins broadly.

Jack and Sebastion hum to themselves. Grayson looks extremely awkward, and everyone else waits.

"Time's up!" Mr. Crane says. "Boys, prepare your voices. Club, prepare your votes."

Jack looks nervous. He has a feeling this will be nothing more than a popularity contest. And even Jack can admit that Sebastion's kind of dreamy. Cor crosses his fingers for luck as the music starts.

Jack and Sebastion take the front of the room.

Sebastion sings first, "I am…" and Jack adds "I am!"

And they sing together, "I am Superman! And I know what's happening!"

Sebastion easily sings but Jack has butterflies flying around in his stomach as the two boys get back into the performing spirit.

The brown-haired boy starts every time, "I am…" and every time, Jack adds, "I am!"

And their voices come together to sing, "I am Superman! And I can do everything!"

Sebastion thinks about Sima and hopes that having a girl in mind will give him the edge.

"You don't really love that guy you make it with, now do you?  
I know you don't love that guy, 'cause I can see right through you!"

Jack has no one special to think about, but he still approaches the song with energy and just a little bit of arrogance that you would need to be a leader, in Jack's eyes. He knows that Sebastion gets cocky a lot, and it can be a bit annoying at times, but Jack has always remembered to stay humble but also love himself. It's been a lot of work to find a balance between the two, but Jack lives and learns with every day.

"If you go a million miles away, I'll track you down girl!  
Trust me when I say 'I know the pathway to your heart!'"

Sebastion truly believes that he has the key to Sima's heart in being a little (or a lot) arrogant, and he uses it as a confidence-booster to sing it out, loud and proud.

"I am…"

"I am!"

"I am Superman! And I can do anything!"

The acoustics decrescendo and expose both boy's voices.

"If you go a million miles away, I'll track you down girl…  
Trust me when I say I know the pathway to your heart!"

Sebastion's voice cracks a little and all he can do is hope and pray that nobody noticed. But it throws him off and allows Jack to gain the confidence he desperately needed and to sing out the rest of the song confidently.

"I am…"

"I am!"

"I am Superman! And I know what's happening!"

"I am…"

"I am!"

"I am Superman! And I can do anything!"

Then both boys finish the song with an, "Oh! Oh!"

And grin upon the fading of the last note.

Everyone cheers, and both boys walk back to their seats and sit down. Jack looks nervous, which boosts Sebastion's confidence and causes him to wear a proud smile.

Cor gives Jack a thumbs up. The ginger boy grins and tries to fight his nerves. Emma pats Jack's back and the glee club all writes their votes on slips of paper and pass it to Mr. Crane.

Mario helps Seneca count the votes, and the students talk amongst themselves about the performance. Suddenly, Seneca speaks up, holding up a piece of paper.

"To whoever voted: 'neither of them, Cor is the best...'" He stares at Paige, "That is not an option."

She smirks. "Who says?"

Mr. Crane rolls his eyes, "Me. And I'm the boss around here."

Paige shrugs. "He's still better than them."

"But if he wanted it, he would've auditioned," Mr. Crane points out.

"Still better!" Paige says defensively.

Jack rolls his eyes. He wants to smack Paige. Paige smirks right back at Jack.

"Did you like the drawing on mine?" Ariadne asks excitedly. She's referencing her sketch of Sebastion along with big block letters that spell out SEBBY on her voting ballot. Mr. Crane says mindlessly, "Yeah. It was really nice."

He turns back to Mario and asks, "Is that all the votes?" Their student teacher nods.

"Alright... Drum roll please!" says Seneca. The kids all drum on their legs.

Seneca takes a dramatic pause before saying, "Jack!"

The boy whose name was called looks amazed and bewildered. Cor grins and whoops.

Emma cheers, "Woo!"

Sebastion looks bummed. Dana pats his shoulder reassuringly.

Ariadne wraps her arms around Sebastion. "I voted for you, Sebby," she says quietly. Sebastion smiles slightly. Dana also smiles slightly. She hates to admit it, but the seventh grader is kind of adorable. Ariadne beams.

Mario glances at Seneca for instructions on what to do next. As if reading the younger man's mind, Seneca says, "It's up to Jack now."

Jack grins. "And Mario, of course!" he says, standing up.

The aforementioned boy looks startled and Jack laughs.

"Okay... What do you guys do first?"

"Warm-ups, of course!" Jack says. Tarrick sits at the piano.

"With our lovely pianist, Tarrick!" Jack adds grinning. Tarrick blushes, and turns even redder when he looks up and sees Cor grinning. Jack looks up that way, too, and says, "I see that grin, Simon. And I can assure you that we don't appreciate the constant shipping."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cor says with an innocent smile. When Jack's not looking, he gives Tarrick a quick wink. The darker-haired boy looks humiliated, while Jack, as he is to most romantic gestures, is oblivious, which causes Cor's grin to widen.

"Is there shipping going on here?" asks Marley.

"NO!" both gingers say at the same time. Both of them blush.

"YES!" Cor shouts gleefully.

"I SHIP IT!" Marley proclaims.

"God, I only said LOVELY!" Jack groans. Tarrick is blushing in the back and not saying anything.

Cor high fives Marley. The seventh grader feels so cool that she was high-fived by a senior, of all ages!

"I need to come up with a team name!" she suddenly squeaks. Both gingers groan.

"Tack?" Cor suggests.

"More like Tacky. Cause that's what it is!" Paige snarks.

"Are we seriously talking about this!?" Jack squeaks out of embarrassment.

"Of course!" Marley smiles, ignoring Paige's comment.

Cor flicks his best friend lightly on the forehead. "Duh!"

"Come on, Jack!" Marley says with a grin and adds on a teasing tone, "Ol' Tailor over there's TOTALLY hitting on you!"

Tarrick pulls his hat over his eyes but doesn't object to Marley's assumption vocally.

"Yeah!" Cor agrees.

Jack is bright red, "People don't... Hit... on me..."

"Are you blind?" Cor questions.

Jack shakes his head, "No!"

"Then what do you call it when girls do this?" Cor bats his eyes and says, "Wow Jack, you're so dreamy. You know EVERYTHING!"

"Nobody does that," Jack says, "Now stop it, you're being creepy."  
Tarrick attempts to rest his head on his hand but hits the piano keys. Everyone stares at him.

Cor stares at Tarrick for a minute before turning back to Jack. "Yes they do."

"And they'd better watch out, because that's my BROTHER!" Emma says defensively.

"Oh please," Jack rolls his eyes and laughs, "You were ATTACHED to Lucas last year."

Cor makes a face. "It was really kind of gross."

Emma blushes. "But he's... Special."

"They're my OTP!" Marley says. Emma grins.

"And Tarrick and Jack are special to each other," Cor points out.

"We're. Just. friends." Jack says, "And even if either one of us liked the other we'd be too scared to say it!"

"Is that why you're red as a tomato?" Emma asks sweetly.

"Are you trying to tell us something Jack?" Dana joins in on the fun.

Jack groans in embarrassment. "No!" Ariadne giggles.

Cor grins and raises his voice to talk to the boy in the back of the room. "Hey Tailor, I think I found a date for you!"

"Shut it!" Tarrick protests. The words are muffled by his white Stetson covering his face to hide the blush.

Cor laughs. "You sure you don't want one?"

"I'm sure neither of us would want one," Jack says. But in reality, both of them do.

"Wanna bet on that?"

Jack nods, "Of course I'd bet!"

"Me too," Tarrick mutters.

Everyone laughs.

Jack looks doomed.

Suddenly, Marley sings, "I SHIP JAAARRRRIIIICCCCKKKK!"

"That should be our warmup today!" Emma laughs.

Everyone agrees.

Tarrick sighs, "When will you give this up!?"

Everyone says, "Never!"

Tarrick strikes a chord on the piano to initiate the start of warm-ups.

"Lead us in Marley!" Cor says, trying to hold back his laughter.

Marley giggles uncontrollably and sings in a scale, "IIIII SSSHHHIIIPPP JJJAAARRRRRIICCKKK!"  
Jack ducks his head.

Cor joins in next, laughing, and soon the whole glee club is warming up by proclaiming their ship.

When the warm-up is over Tarrick stands up from the piano. "You've all made your point clear," he sighs.

Cor grins at him and hums _Can you feel the love tonight?_

Marley quickly recognizes the song and giggles as she hums along. Emma joins in, too.

Tarrick walks over to Jack and whispers in his ear, "Let's fake it so they'll shut up." Jack laughs, blushing, and shrugs.

Everyone waits for something to happen, humming happily.

Not even Tarrick's sure what to do next, so Jack whispers to him, "I swear this means nothing and I'm sorry but I have to," and he gives the other boy a huge kiss on the lips.

Cor whoops and high fives Marley. Emma is shocked but ends up laughing.

What Jack doesn't expect is for Tarrick to kiss back.

Cor grins. Paige makes a retching sound, causing Dana to whack her sister upside the head.

Both gingers pull back and both have the feeling that it was real.

"Now will you stop pestering us!?" Jack asks.

"I will only stop pestering you when you're going out," Cor says.

"I'll never stop pestering you!" Marley says, cheerily.

Both gingers sigh as the bell rings.

Cor grabs his bag and ruffles Jack's hair. "See you later." He winks at Tarrick again before leaving.

"Bye!" Jack says cheerfully, but still a little in-shock. Everyone else leaves as well.

Jack glances up at the taller boy in front of him. "I'm real sorry about today, Tar. I really-" Tarrick interrupts him in one quick motion, putting both hands on Jack's face and kissing him again. Jack kisses him back.

Tarrick breaks away and removes his hands from Jack's cheeks. "I'll, uh, talk to you later," he says. He walks out of the room and Jack slowly follows. Tarrick grins and tries to contain his excitement. Jack looks shocked but happy as he walks over to his bus.

* * *

Now, in a nice house on the good side of town lives Flavius, Venia, and Octavia. The three are siblings who are closer than most.

Octavia comes home and dumps her backpack beside the door, heading towards the kitchen for a snack.

Flavius is playing a video game in the living room. "Hey, Tavia!" He says then adds, "What took you so long?"

"I went by the library," she says, pulling a box of Oreos out of the cupboard. She sits down next to her brother and holds the box out to him. "Want one?"

Flavius takes one, "You know me so well, sis!"

Octavia grins and takes one for herself.

"So what'd you read at your little library?" Flavius asks teasingly.

"Romeo and Juliet," the girl tucks one of her green streaks behind her ear and sighs happily. "It's so romantic!"

Flavius rolls his eyes. "And they call me the nerd. How's that even romantic!? Romeo's a dick!"

"Because they were so in love!" Octavia squeals.

Flavius sighs, "If you want a romantic story, read something that's not that."

"But whyyyyyy?" his younger sister whines.

"Because Romeo and Juliet's relationship is nothing but dirty lust, when you think about it," Flavius explains, "The only reason Romeo talks to Juliet is because she's hot. The only reason he responds is because he's hot. The Friar literally has to rush their wedding to get it over with before they have sex, which would be sin if they weren't wed. That's not love, sis."

Octavia sighs and stuffs another Oreo into her mouth. "You always have to be so cynical, don't you?"

"I'm your older brother. That's what I do," he says with a grin.

She flicks an Oreo at him, causing Flavius to laugh, before he focuses on his video game again.

Octavia watches, eating more Oreos.

Flavius's character in the game dies and he screams at the TV, causing his sister to laugh.

"Where's Venia?" he asks, looking around.

The oldest of the siblings is hanging out with her friends.

"Probably out with friends and getting boys to fall madly in love with her," Octavia responds, grouchy. Being slightly overweight makes it more common for boys to call her ugly rather than beautiful.

Flavius frowns, "Ignore them."

Octavia rests her head on her brother's shoulder and sighs.

Flavius looks down on her affectionately. She's his little sister and he loves her.

Octavia smiles up at him and pokes his stomach. "Go back to playing. I wanna watch your character die some more."

Flavius rolls his eyes but laughs, restarting his game. "Yeah right. I won't actually die this time."

She laughs. "You die every time!" Flavius rolls his eyes but can't deny the statement. Octavia grins and Flavius goes back to his video game. Octavia watches her brother, waiting to find something to tease him about.

Venia and her best friend Portia enter the house just then. It startles Flavius and his character once again dies.

Octavia whoops in delight and Portia laughs.

Flavius sighs dramatically, but with good humility, and Venia looks slightly annoyed.

Octavia grins and waves at her sister. Venia waves back then drags Portia upstairs.

Portia laughs and waves at the younger two before aallowing herself to be dragged away.

Venia throws her backpack down on the bedroom floor and sits on the bed.

Portia sits crosslegged on the floor

Venia sighs, "Why do all the cute boys look at us like we're nothing!?"

Portia shrugs. "Because they're stupid? I dunno."

Venia sighs, "I guess you're right."

"Don't worry about it too much, okay?"

Venia nods, "I guess..."

Portia gives her a hug and Venia hugs her friend back.

She lets go. "Besides, there are plenty of guys interested in you!"

Venia nods, "But they're all creeps."

Portia nods. "True."

Venia sighs. "Oh well."

"You'll find a nice one, one day." She nods.

"But until then..."

"We have each other."

"Exactly."

Venia smiles.

Portia pats her best friend on the shoulder, and Venia smiles slightly.

"Two best friends at Capitol Academy."

"Ready for the most kick-ass year EVER!"


End file.
